Graduate | Current Syllabi | Term015 |

Dr. Brian K. Price
Tel: 33-387-983701
Office Hours: available by appointment.
Email: bprice@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

Course Description:

This course will present various issues that are found between the social sciences, mental health practice, and law within the American legal system. Topics include the role played by social scientists in the criminal justice process, the types of psychological assessments provided for the courts, mental health treatment of offenders, family protection laws, civil court issues pertaining to receiving mental health treatment, and mental health licensing and practice issues. There will be some modification of topics discussed toward the end of the course, as various students will present information from their projects that will reflect their own personal interests.

Class Objectives.

The objectives for this course are for students

1. To survey the major areas of interest shared by behavioral science, mental health invention and the law
2. To explore a variety of psycho-legal issues from the often-conflicting viewpoints of the social scientist and the lawyer
3. To discuss some of the major professional activities faced by mental health professionals working in the legal system, including their potential ethical conflicts.
4. To become familiar with statutory and case law as it impacts the mental health practitioner.

As a caveat, I would like to point out that there is nothing indicated within these objectives cited here, or anywhere else in the course materials, that should be construed as either the presentation of legal advice or the preparation of students to enter litigation. This is not a law course and your instructor is a counseling psychologist, not a legal scholar. Hopefully, you will gain an appreciation of the legal world and some of its underpinnings, but I suggest to you to seek a qualified legal professional should you ever need to get particular legal advice or opinion

Course Materials

The textbook for this course is:

Swenson, Leland C. Psychology and law for the helping professions. (1997). Pacific Grove, CA.: Brooks/Cole.

Other readings will be distributed in class or online at the class WebBoard.

Grading Information

Student Evaluation: Students' performance will be graded based upon a percentage of total possible points obtained during the course. In general, it will be necessary to obtain a minimum of 90% of the course points to achieve an A, at least 80% of the points for a B, at least 70% of total possible points for a C, at least 60% for a D, and anything below 60% is a F. However, it is the discretion of the instructor to liberalize the grading criteria by computing the average score of the two top students' point total and using that score to indicate a "perfect" total number of points.

Course Assignments

The following course tasks will include:

1. Paper ( 1 total; 25% of total points). Students will explore a particular topic of personal interest. The paper must be 10 pages in length and presented in a double-spaced, typed manuscript with one-inch margins. Since this is a "review of the literature" paper (as opposed to a scientific research project paper), I am mostly interested that you know where to place the margins and page numbering and how to cite references properly. If this is your first attempt at using APA writing style, you can go to these websites for help:

http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm an internet guide that summarizes some of the major points of APA writing style written by Dr. Mark Plonsky of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html is another handy guide prepared at Purdue University?s Online Writing Lab about the finer points of referencing.

A compilation of other guides is available at the Psych Web website: http://www.psywww.com/resource/apacrib.htm.

2. Student Presentation (1 total; 25% of total points). During the last weekend of the course, each student will present a case or topic that raises issues for social science, counseling and law. The subject of the presentation may be the same as the student's paper. A good response would acknowledge the potential conflicts between the separate disciplines in understanding human behavior while acknowledging the historical realities that they share. The presentation will also provide an opinion of how the two perspectives could be reconciled in terms of the particular case material. The presentation must be approximately one hour in length. Your presentation will receive feedback by the instructor and your fellow students, although the final grade will be primarily from the instructor.

3. Mid-Term Exam and Final Exam (20% each). These will be take-home essay type examinations regarding the readings and/or case material with one or two choices among the items. Students will be given one week to complete the exams. Usually these will consist of 3-4 essay items.

4. Legal research topic (5%). Students will be required to create a directory of all statutes within five states that have direct relevance to the definition, regulation, or practice of counseling. Details of this project will be provided in class.

5. Contribution to a positive learning environment (5%): This class will be conducted in a "structured seminar" format, rather than a didactic approach. Attendance is essential for the benefit of everyone in class. As well as attending classes, this means participating in the topic discussions, trying to maintain a positive attitude toward working with the material and encouraging your classmates.

Other class policies

This course will comply with the UMUC policy guidelines regarding attendance, academic honesty, excused absences, make-up exams and assignments, incompletes and withdrawals.

Tentative Course Topic Schedule

Weekend One: Introduction; Overview of the legal process and roles played by social scientists and mental health practitioners; Paradigm differences between the legal system and the helping professions; the role of psychologists in criminal investigation; Expert testimony. Textbook Chapters: 1, 2, 8, 9

Weekend Two: Legal literature; Eyewitness testimony; Criminal competencies; Criminal responsibility (sanity); Criminal penalties/Corrections; Risk assessment; Malingering. Textbook Chapters: none for this week

Weekend Three: Family protection services; Child custody; Civil commitment/involuntary treatment; Right to refuse treatment; Civil competencies. Textbook Chapters: 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17

Weekend Four: Professional licensure; Malpractice; Psychological injury; Duty to Warn. Textbook Chapters: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7